Brussels is the New Beirut
And not in a good way:
If you’re wondering ‘How bad are things in Europe?’, this week provided you with a chilling answer.
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Interviewed by [war correspondent Arnold] Karskens, Vlaams Belang member Frédéric Erens is succinct: ‘This is the new Beirut’.
Now, on the surface, this would warrant a Looks Like Beirut certificate, however, blogger Klein Verzet goes on to clarify:
Isn’t that just peachy-keen? The capital of the EUnion, that shining beacon of new supra-national ‘post-democratic’ governance, descending into an anarchy comparable to Beirut at its worst in the 1980’s. Tells you all you need to know about the EUnion, doesn’t it?
You can’t disagree with that, now can you? However, we can send Frédéric Erens, the guy who made the comment a certificate.
Brussels: A Euro Beirut
“On parts of Houston Street, it feels like downtown Beirut”
Jan Jarboe Russell, a so-called journalist, for the San Antonio Express-News, describes the city’s problems:
For at least 30 years, San Antonio has been vexed by a frustrating problem: The river that runs through the heart of the city has flourished with development, much of it aimed at tourists, while efforts to attract retail spaces, housing and offices to the street level have largely failed. Consequently, the core of the city is split. At the river level, we look like Venice. On parts of Houston Street, it feels like downtown Beirut.
So according to Jan, some parts of San Antonio look like this (Venice):
Venice: View from the Air
And other parts looks like this (downtown Beirut):
Downtown Beirut
So where’s the problem? The problem is that Jan is still living in the 90’s. Its quite sad when journalists don’t do their homework and just recycle old cliches in the hope they can transmit their opinions. Jan clearly needs to leave San Antonio and visit the real world; to get you started your very own Looks Like Beirut certificate is on its way all the way from Dubai, where we drive cars and not ride camels.
Counter-Strike: Source CS Beirut II
Counter-Strike: Source CS Beirut II is convenient map which lets you easily rescue the hostages. Counter-Strike: Source CS Beirut II map can support a whopping 64 players, Counter-Strike: Source CS Beirut II takes place on the dusty streets of Beirut.
The Dusty Streets of Beirut
The AK-47 Index
Where financial centers flash their Dow30, FTSE100 and CAC40, here in Lebanon we have our AK-47 index:
Officially, the only legal weapons in Lebanon are shotguns meant for hunting birds. And although much of the population was heavily armed during the 1975 to 1990 civil war, the various factions agreed to disarm their heavy weapons stockpiles, with the notable exception of Hizbollah.
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But little was done about light weapons – assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and sniper rifles – which were often stuffed into storage in homes and villages around Lebanon. And ever since, the arms dealers have used an interesting metric for judging the stability of the country: the price of the ubiquitous AK-47 assault rifle.
And what do these traders have to say about Lebanon’s current “golden period”:
[Abu Mahdi says], “Anyone who tells you that Lebanon is peaceful and stable is lying. Everyone is buying weapons; I can’t keep up.”
What does the government think about all this?
A few minutes after the Hizbollah gunmen arrive, a jeep from the Internal Security Forces, Lebanon’s federal police force, pulls up outside [Abu Mahdi's] shack but neither Mr Mahdi nor his militant customers seem worried. The police officers have arrived to pick up two assault rifles that they ordered a few weeks earlier. They seem to know the fighters and all start happily chatting and playing with the dozens of weapons stuffed in the back of Mr Mahdi’s truck.
Do these traders have any conscience?
By the outbreak of the July 2006 war between Hizbollah and Israel, [the Ak-47] had tripled to $900 as people expected either an occupation by Israel or ongoing civil strife in the aftermath. “The war was terrible for Lebanon but I made $10,000 profit in just a few weeks,” Mr Mahdi admits. “But prices just kept rising.”
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“But I know there is a real problem on the streets right now not just because of the machine guns but because I am selling so many RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) launchers. People only buy grenades when they think war is coming. An RPG isn’t really a weapon you use to protect your house, but everyone is buying them anyway. Not good.”
Not much.
The AK-47
A Little Too Generous
Imagine receiving a US$500 tip from a Lebanese businessman for a work well-done. Now imagine instead of giving you five 100-dollar bills, he gives you a single 500-dollar bill:
When a Malaysian hotel cleaner was tipped $500 by a high-rolling, self-proclaimed Lebanese “billionaire”, it seemed to good to be true.
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Businessman Elie Youseef Najem’s generosity turned out to be his undoing. When police tipped off by the disappointed cleaner searched his hotel room they discovered $66 million in counterfeit bills. Among them were 60 $1 million bills and bundles of other $100,000 and $500 notes stashed in a black bag in his Kuala Lumpur room.
That’s alot of Monopoly money! The cleaner should have no immediately that the money was fake. I mean, we are on record of being the most stingiest people in the Middle East.
AP: Police found 60 $1 million bills and bundles of other $100,000 and $500 notes stashed in a black bag
